00:01:32 and Counting
by Titania Le Fey
Summary: A set of fics depicting scenes set at the end of Escape from New York. Most of this fic will revolve around interactions between Hauk, Snake and Cronenburg.
1. A Count Down to Death

Snake dashed toward the wall stumbling in the rubble as the harness lowered toward him. He looked hesitantly back at the president and then at the harness. They would never neutralize the charges if the president wasn't already over the wall. He half hobbled and half pulled Harker toward the harness. Snake roughly wrapped the straps around his shoulder and watched him start to ascend toward the top of the wall. His eye turned toward the count down **00:01:32** the red numbers mocked. 

"Fuck" Snake mumbled as he looked up the wall. His eye turned back to the bridge just in time to see the Duke raising the gun. Instinctively Snake ducked as the gun strafed over his head. He glanced at the wall, his salvation and then back at the man with the gun. He had to find cover. Snake dove for the destroyed cars momentarily abandoning the chance at freedom. He would be just as dead shot as he would if the nukes went off in his veins. Snake scrambled behind the car as the Duke of New York rounded the other side. He glanced once longingly at the descending harness before forcing himself to climb on to the car and dive on to the Duke. Hell it hurt. The arrow wound began to bleed again as he impacted but his adversary didn't fall. Snake struggled to choke the man or wrestle him to the ground all the time the harness laid waiting at the bottom of the wall taunting him. Snake threw his weight into it and kicked the Duke in the calf as he allowed his body to fall back. Finally, the bastard fell. Snake was instantly confronted with a gun that he grabbed and tried to wrestle free from the man vying for the ride over the wall to freedom. Snake snarled and elbowed him hard in the sternum. The second his grip loosened Snake yanked it from his hands tossing it aside. He heard it clatter to the ground and wondered "Why the fuck he had thrown the gun away." There was no time to ponder as the Duke started to push himself to his feet. Snake snarled slamming his forearm into the other man's face. He groaned in pain as he got to his feet, everything hurt by now.

His leg burned with pain and he could feel the broken ribs scrapping together as he once more scrambled up the rubble to the harness. He grabbed the harness and gave it a hard pull to start the trip to the top. His eye caught sight of the timer **00:00:47** it read in the brilliant red block type. Snake looked up the wall as his feet left the ground. He wanted to climb, to reach the top faster and despite the futility tried to press his boots to the concrete and speed up the process.

**00:00:39** His eye again caught sight of the countdown. "Shit can't this thing go faster" he wondered glancing back down at the Duke who was still on the ground. There was a jerk and then the rope stopped its steady climb. His wide eye peered at the place where the cable disappeared over the wall. "This couldn't be fucking real!" Snake pushed his feet into the wall and started pulling at the harness.

His eye turned back toward the ground to see the Duke crawling toward the gun... "FUCK!" Snake cursed. He was half way up the wall now was not the time to get shot. He tugged on the harness again, more frantically this time as the Duke got to his feet. "Fuck no!" Snake snarled at the unbelievable turn that fate seemed to have taken. He was almost free.

Snake heard gun shots and peered down at the Duke assuming that was the source but he was stumbling back in a spray of blood. His eye returned to the wall just as President Harker started to scream." Yeah, hey, Number One! You're the Duke! You're the Duke! You're... the Duke... You're A-Number-One."

"Fucking Christ, the man is insane" Plissken thought for a moment while he hung suspended on the verge of death. "No wonder this country has gone to Hell!" The gun fire stopped and Snake glanced back at the bridge to see the Duke lying on the car hood. It was satisfying to see him die but it could be enjoyed later. The winch once more started and Snake resumed his attempt to climb the wall.

As soon as his fingers could touch railings he pulled himself up and jumped over the other side still clinging to the harness. **00:00:25** the red numbers read as he slammed off the wall and dangled on the free side. "Hell, I'm going to finish this and die because of this damned winch." He glanced down at the ground "Ten maybe twelve feet." He had to do something he was about to die. He let go with one hand trying to get closer to the ground but time was running out. In a mad desire to survive he let go and slammed into the ground. His body crumpled as it hit the concrete, pain shot through his legs. There was no time for this. Snake crawled to his feet. He had to keep moving or die.

He could see the machine that would stop the explosion in his neck and all the pain faded. All that mattered was surviving he had to make it. Suddenly Hauk stepped in the way and pushed the medic and his x-ray machine away.

"The tape, Plissken." Snake watched Hauk shove his hand out and snarled. He could die here and all Hauk worried about was the fucking tape. Snake's eye narrowed and he thrust the tape into Hauk's hand. Hauk stepped away and the medic returned. Snake didn't often pray but with only seconds between him and death that was about all that was left.

The cold paddles pressed to his sweating neck and buzzed. The buzz was followed by a slight burning sensation in his neck. Snake eyed the two men suspiciously. "What if this wasn't what stopped the charge but the thing that set them off?" His eye was set maliciously on Hauk the whole time. "What a fucking bastard." Was all Snake's mind could register. He heard the medic say something and pull the paddles away. Fury was boiling in Snake's blood and he couldn't bear the thought of looking away from Hauk. He wished he could burn a hole through him, kill him, tear him apart but that could wait.

Snake raised his wrist and pushed the button on the watch. He hesitated and then glanced at it with disbelief. **00:00:02** His mind started to race. "What if they still went off?" He glared at Hauk and the gun on his hip. Snake was intent on taking the bastard with him if the nukes went off and he started to bleed out.

He again watched the time ticking down **00:00:01**, **00:00:00** and then there was an ominous beep. Snake scowled at Hauk waiting for anything to feel off. Seconds ticked by or maybe not as Snake waited. Nothing still. Finally he lowered his arm content that nothing was going to happen. Hauk smiled triumphantly as if it brought him pleasure to see Snake afraid, to see him squirm under someone else's decisions. Plissken saw the look and clenched his teeth. Hauk would pay for this someday; Snake would make sure of it.


	2. Different Sides of the Same Coin

Snake glared viciously at Hauk. He was leaning heavily on the wall across the room, leg still on fire from where they stitched up the arrow's puncture wound. Hauk was taking his good ol' fucking sweet time preparing the pardon papers and it made Snake suspicious. Not that he wasn't wary of the bastard already but this all smelled of bullshit. The wait for the papers, the nukes which Snake was beginning to believe were never there and most of all the fact he was in the Max Control tower without handcuffs or guards. It all smelled of blackbelly bullshit.

Snake stepped forward watching Hauk fold his copy of the paper. Hauk's version was a simple piece of paper covered in signatures but the one they were giving Snake was gaudy and covered in gold foil stamps. For some reason the paper disgusted Snake down deep in the pit of his stomach. He had been pleasantly surprised that this blackbelly commissioner was keeping his word. That was if the papers were even real. Snake stared down at the desk watching Hauk intently.

The paper slid into the water resistant envelope so slowly it was antagonizing to watch. Snake's eye trailed across the desk to the pearl handled pistol and the mound of cigarettes. Just being here made him want to steal but now he couldn't decide what to take. The envelope zipped shut and Snake's eye jerked back to look at it. Even through the intense fatigue a spark of excitement hit. If he was cleared maybe he could sleep when he was out of this hell hole instead of constantly running.

"Here you go, Snake, full pardon just like I said." Hauk's hand extended out across the desk. Plissken looked between the hand and his face. There was something of a proud smirk in his old face. Probably happy that his ass had been saved at Snake's expense. Snake saw the smile growing as he reached out for the envelope. He couldn't help thinking, "Maybe letting me off the damned hook is Hauk's private "fuck you" to the state." Snake started to smile slyly as he took the envelope. Immediately he reopened it and examined the paper. It looked legitimate.

"Just don't get yourself killed now. It'd be such a waste of a pardon."

"Don't plan on it." Snake replied as his eye skimmed the list of crimes and signatures that confirmed his forgiveness. His eye lingered on the list of crimes. Snake hadn't even realized he had committed so many. Snake folded the paper returning it to the envelope and stuffed it into his cargo pocket. He looked up at Hauk. He was still grinning.

"I assume to see a man like you dead…" He paused leaning back in his chair. "I'll need half the police force with me." Snake saw in Hauk's eyes a wise old treachery that demanded respect even from Snake.

"They'd be a good start." Snake answered cockily. "Can I get a gun?" Snake had been given rations, medical supplies and a hummer without asking. It was worth asking and trying to get a gun.

"Still a soldier, Snake?" Hauk was moving from behind the desk toward a far wall. Snake's eye never leaving him.

"Never stopped." Snake answered taking a cigarette from Hauk's desk. He lit it watching Hauk with unbridled curiosity as he opened a wall panel. He couldn't see what Hauk was into but hobbling to get to another angle was out of the question. His leg was burning with spikes of pain shooting up into the hip. The last thing Snake wanted to do was move. He took a long drag from the cigarette waiting; it was starting to get uncomfortable. He wanted to get away before the blackbellies discovered the tape but he also desperately wanted a gun.

Hauk turned back toward Snake and tossed something black at him. The office was too dark to discern the item until he felt the weight in his hand. It was an old Special Forces pistol. The kind every officer was issued. Snake smiled at the weapon like he had once more discovered a lost companion after years of separation. This gun would be like ten in his hand. He had become one with a gun like this one once. They fought for survival together, the Snake and the black pistol.

"Perfect for a war hero." Hauk stated retaking his seat behind the desk. Snake could hear the cynicism in his voice. Laughing Snake put the gun in the pocket of his jacket. His hand lingered on it. As he caressed it, the need to shoot something became intolerable but Snake knew he would have plenty to shoot at very soon.

"What now Snake?" Hauk asked as he fished three boxes of bullets out of a drawer and placed them in the center of the desk. Snake snatched the shells off the desk before Hauk had a chance to change his mind. The bullets went into the other jacket pocket.

"Don't know, Jersey maybe."

"You could stay here. We'd make a hell of a team Snake."

Snake wondered what Hauk was thinking; maybe he just didn't care any longer. Snake scowled. He felt dirty and slimy from hearing that offer. "I'd rather die." Snake replied flatly.

Hauk became visibly disappointed in Snake's answer. "See ya 'round then, Snake."

"Yeah, in Hell." Snake replied walking toward the door. He knew he would see Hauk again and they would be on opposite ends of each other's guns. Snake found that thought satisfying as he hobbled down the hall toward the helipad and freedom.


	3. Haunted

Snake pulled the humvee to a stop as he reached the Jersey boarder. He was exhausted from the ordeal in New York and wasn't comfortable with driving any farther. He could sleep in the hummer for awhile before continuing on. In the back of his mind was the concern with the police coming to look for him after the stunt with the tape. In all honesty, now that he was thinking about it, they probably had worse things to worry about than where he had slithered off to.

Snake put the hummer in park and shut down the lights. He was off the road and in cover with a good vantage point of the road in both directions. Plissken reclined the seat and closed his eye to get some sleep before meeting Marrs the next evening. He couldn't. As soon as his eye shut all he could see were the red numbers counting down to his death.

Plissken opened his eye and rubbed his neck, more out of instinct. He was still trying to feel something there. Like every other time there was nothing to be felt but the sore spots the size of a nickel where the needles had plunged in. The thought brought a shiver and goosebumps when Snake recollected that fear. He wasn't trusting of needles in the past and now the mere thought of one turned his stomach and simultaneously sparked a burning hate inside.

He needed to relax. Snake downed another of the painkillers given to him by the doctor and settled in again to attempt to relax. The numbers lit up in his brain again, 22. 22 was supposed to be 24 but he had been cheated. Should he be surprised? Snake didn't have time to answer his own question as the countdown clock sailed toward zero in his mind's eye. Panic settled on him, hours of stress boiled to the surface until the 00:00:02 flashed with impending doom. He couldn't shake the image. It remained flashing and he was held on edge wondering if his neck would explode, if Hauk would laugh as his body slumped to the ground. 00:00:01 burned with hate as he readied himself to kill if anything seemed out of the ordinary.

The numbers flashed in sync with his ever increasing heartbeat. The waiting was excruciating. Would it happen? Finally zero hit and Plissken felt pain in his neck, imagined explosions in the nightmare he had slipped into.

Plissken bolted upright in the seat slamming his head against the roof as he came to. It doubled him up against the door cradling his forehead but as soon as his eye closed the numbers returned pulsing now with the pain in his bad eye. The impact roused such an intense pain that Snake felt the world go black. He couldn't be sure how long but a welt had risen between his last memory and whatever time had passed.

Snake took a deep breath once more touching his neck. The after impressions from the nightmare remained causing Plissken to flinch under his own touch. There was a fear that he would feel blood. For all he knew the police could have left the charges, maybe they lasted 30 hours and his neck would blow out while he was driving. His paranoia played havoc for a moment before Plissken looked out at the glimmer of light that was starting to illuminate the road. He had slept longer that he assumed and more importantly he was still alive. His neck was intact, the government was fucked and Hauk was probably up to his ass in people bitching. It was a good thought to brush away the nightmare. The only way the day could get better was a stiff drink which was already planned in the near future.

Snake started up the police vehicle and smiled to himself. The whistling started as his mind imagined what Hauk's morning was like. The only shame was he couldn't watch Hauk squirm like he had watched Plissken on the exam table or when he'd jumped off the wall only seconds from dying. Luck only went so far and having his life was good enough for now. Hauk could be made to suffer all he needed was a little patience. 


End file.
